We don't have the right to insult.....

This is from my occasional correspondent slot in the weekly Herald Express newspaper...

Thursday, September 01, 2011 Herald Express

IT'S VERY easy to take a spiteful pop at local councillors and, of course, any elected mayor. Nick Bye can tell you that and, whether you agreed with him or did not, the public rhetoric too often was both hurtful and, indeed, viciously spiteful.

Gordon Oliver is now in the firing line and getting many of the same hurtful, spiteful attacks.

​ATTACKED: Nick Bye, left, and current mayor Gordon Oliver have been in the firing line for hurtful, spiteful attacks
.You see, we all have the right to comment but we don't have the right to be rudely insulting, especially when the nastiness is hidden behind some silly pseudonym.

The other evening I was allowed, with two friends, the privilege of speaking for five minutes at a council committee meeting.

It was to push for a change in the proposed 100 per cent increase in school transport cost to parents and guardians.

That sort of increase was draconian, way ahead of any ruthless utility company price hikes and hitting many families already struggling to keep their heads above water.

I quite like public speaking — how sad is that? — but my two friends do not and it took courage to face our elected members in the ballroom at Oldway Mansion.

They did so very well and I felt that our councillors understood their bravery in speaking publicly about something they felt strongly about.

Looking around the ballroom while they were speaking and thinking about how intimidating it all seemed, I wondered again about public gatherings in venues for local folk that might prove a little more user friendly.

Nick Bye used to encourage folk to have a say before council cabinet meetings and other councillor events, which was fine for those happy enough to stand and speak.

Nick also had his monthly caravan engagement sessions at assorted places in Torbay.

But I think these things need to be a little wider in application, hence the suggestion that we use the Riviera Centre for monthly mayor meetings.

The format could be inclusive and user friendly. Gordon?

Here is another little point that is worth considering.

Often a mayor or councillor has to punt an idea that has been promoted by council officers rather than politicians.

Poor old Nick certainly took many custard pies when others were able to duck out of sight.

Let me give you an example. The chain and concrete barrier around Paignton Green is seen by many as the fault of councillors but the suggestion and energy came from an officer of the council rather than a councillor.

These things too often get lost in the rhetoric and drift into history. But hey, you doubtless know all this.

Talking about Paignton Green, I happened to be wandering in the sun at the start of this week and came across something I have not seen for a while.

The green was packed from end to end with folk sunbathing, families picnicking, children playing and people just generally having a good time.

Sunshine makes all the difference and, after five bad summers in a row, our tourism figures dip.

Despite the hard work of our new English Riviera Tourism Company, bad weather just doesn't bring a smile to the face of an aspirant tourist.

Not helped either if large sectors of the local community seem intent in walking around with a face like a slapped kipper.

As I write, the sun is out and so the prospect of a swim in the sea beckons.

Come and try it – the water's fine!

"You who are on the road...................."

Some months ago I was the guest speaker at the Riviera International Conference Centre Business Breakfast with a bendy sort of theme entitled How to Cure a Curmudgeon. Curmudgeons have always worried me, but that isn’t what I want to write about today. As I write the country is being stressed by economic dips, rioting, disengaged communities and most of all the sense of the loss of hope.

So what has all this to do with Torbay? Well it’s August and theoretically the height of the tourist season; a time for making the most of what we have. You might ask what we have and I would answer that we live in an area of outstanding beauty with large wooded areas, miles of super safe beaches and stunning rocky outcrops. Did you know that you can almost walk from the middle of Paignton to Cockington village through leafy tracks past sparkling streams and only have to cross roads a couple of times? How good is that? As a bonus you can score one point for every deer you see on the way. Yes it’s true we really have wild deer on our doorstep!

From numerous high points the view across our precious bay is to say the least breathtaking. Yet on a summer afternoon in August few boats bob on the open sea. There was a time, not so long ago, when you could almost hop from Torquay to Brixham bouncing off windsurfer decks, but now only a handful flit across the water.

I had thought about introducing geriatric Coasteering this summer in the hope of grabbing a bundle of older folk (not all geriatrics, although I now include myself in that noble group!) to explore the cliff coasts from a very different angle. I seem to remember Jim Parker jumping up and down with excitement when I mentioned the idea. What better way to encourage tourists than to see the local population out there using the environment without having to flash huge amounts of cash?

Ah yes, the local population. Well that is you and it is me, folks. The socio-political landscape is changing and unless we wake up to that fact the future is indeed not that rosy. Whilst I use the throw away comment ‘grabbing a bundle of older folk’ it is of course much bigger than that. It is about grabbing the energy of a community which is a bigger and a hugely more important task. The word community must mean exactly that; all of Torbay and not simply randomly touching the energy here and there.

The other morning, just after six, I wandered down with my dog to the local newsagent to pick up a copy of the now weekly Herald Express (I miss the daily dose!) and bumped into four lads outside the door. They seemed nice enough and responded to my greeting. Two were in the infamous pulled up hoodies; I guess they were between the ages of sixteen to nineteen and had obviously been up all night. With my paper tucked under my arm I walk home with the four lads a little way ahead of me all munching away on their recently purchased junk food breakfast of fizzy drinks, bottled milkshakes, crisps and other goodies. You might wonder how I knew what they were eating if I was trailing behind them listening to the sound of loosely used foul language? Well it was easy really since once they had finished or simply had enough, the unwanted bits were casually dropped.

Now a good citizen would have hailed them and suggested that they carry their litter home with them. They seemed nice lads and I suspect that they might have apologised and picked up the discarded detritus. But given the recent worrying news, the fact that I was alone with my hound and the national propensity for gratuitous violence, I did not. I did however pick up litter. As I walked home the words of a song made famous by Crosby Stills Nash and Young came to mind which now echoed in the early morning light. They sang that we should teach our children well, which made me wonder about parental guidance in this troubled time. How do we teach our children well when so much has changed and the constant onslaught of television, social media, instant communication and the irresponsibly mixing of fact and fiction into a maelstrom that is fast becoming a socio-political and economic perfect storm?

Well Mayor Oliver I still think that we can set an example here in Torbay by using our natural resources to the maximum and engaging the whole of the community. I have already suggested open meetings at which you could encourage all sectors to attend and positively contribute in a meaningful way for the greater good. But how do we get them there? Well, we could start by knocking on doors and holding out a hand. Hmm, interesting! We all have life and it is something that in my humble opinion we must positively share. That’s my vision. What do you think?

Mankini Man and the 6th Torbay

The Italians have a word which, for me, seems to catch the moment when things really go well. The word is Fanastico and the annual Paignton Regatta Round the Pier swim last Friday evening was exactly that! This is my second year of being the organiser and what fun it is. Twenty-nine people ranging in age from 14 to 75+ splashed into the sea on the south side of the pier and then cut through the waves around a bright orange buoy off the end before speeding back to the beach.

Of course and event like this can’t happen without tremendous support from many people including two safety boats and numerous canoeists from the 6th Torbay Scouts, plus Simon Lane his kayaking friends. Lifeguards Claire (from the Redcliffe Hotel) and Bethan (6th Torbay) kept a watchful eye over the swimmers but didn’t need to leap into action! Dotted amongst the spectators were the yellow sweatshirts of the Paignton Regatta Committee members rattling collecting boxes and handing out space blankets to shivering swimmers! This is a community in action!

One of the stars of the evening was swimmer Ali Sular who sported a bright green mankini and in doing so managed to raise over £200 for Rowcroft Hospice. Good man! Borat look out – Ali Sular is looking for your job!

How green is my Green.....

There are times when I simply want to sit down and weep! It’s that feeling of being the proverbial voice crying in the wilderness when things seem to blindingly obvious. Let me give you a few examples.

We spend so much time talking about regeneration in Torbay and energising the flagging high street shopping experience with assorted schemes. But unless we address parking cost little is going to change. Our mayor is now talking about forming a committee to look at parking but to me it seems that unless you make the first hour free then little will change. Does that need a committee? Who on earth wants to spend pounds on parking whilst nipping into local shops for a low value purchase? Not me for one as I drive around at a cost of £1.40 a litre looking for a free parking place! We live in the age of the car and whilst short term parking is financially painful then folk will simply not shop locally. It really is as simple as that!

He moves swiftly on! I am, as you have probably worked out, a firm believer in community cohesion and in these troubled times there is a real and increasing danger of the social divide widening. Some weeks ago I found myself at an event with some affluent folk and happened to hear the observation that there were really no poor people in Torbay . Shortly after that I attended a presentation for young people from difficult backgrounds who were being awarded certificates for social engagement and the contrast, to me, was shocking. There but for the grace of god go all of us. We share this journey through life together and looking out for your neighbours must be automatic. That is yet another reason for getting people into the town and sharing community experience.

Part of the sharing process, I rather hoped, would be my suggested monthly mayoral public meetings with the added bonus of some positive community action afterwards. But as I write I see no evidence that this socially cohesive event is any nearer. Once again the proverbial voice crying in the wilderness echoes across Torbay . The cathartic experience of standing, unsuccessfully, as a councillor some years ago demonstrated to me how insular communities can be. Certainly our virtual world in cyberspace gives the illusion of community action although the reality is that it is contained within the home whilst staring endlessly into a flickering screen.

Oh well, we battle on and battling seems to be what is happening with tourism just now. The front page of the paper recently had Laurence Murrell of the TLH hotel group banging on about the confusion resulting from the mayor’s strategic gymnastic in suggesting merging tourist and conference folk. It reminded me of what has gone before with the various interest groups slugging it out over the future of our flagging seaside resort. To me the main focus should be on celebrating what we already have and stuffing what we might want on a realistic wish list. We do need a fresh look at what we do because as dear old Albert Einstein said doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome really is insanity.

Insanity. Hmm. One of my much loved areas of Torbay is Paignton Green and when the silly concrete posts connected by a spiky chain arrived some years ago, solving a problem that we didn’t have, a single tear ran down my cheeks. I loved that open space and found myself over the years engaging in many community events that have been traditionally held there. Hot summer days, when we had them, had the whole grass area covered by sun bathers and cheerful picnicking families. So how green is my Green today? Well less than it is now when another chunk is sacrificed to the building of a play park later this year which will reduce the usable area. I can see the attraction of this new Geo play park but am saddened by the loss of this destination green space and the worry that at pub chucking out time it will become a hot spot of a very different kind as inebriated idiots demonstrate their invincibility balancing on various play park climbing frames! Not the sort of destination tourism that I had in mind…….

Vision of question time and personal litter-picking...

The Herald Express is now a weekly rather than a daily. This is my occasional column for the first edition...

Thursday, July 21, 2011 Herald Express

A couple of months ago, just after the mayoral election, I wrote down a few thoughts about the new political dynasty. My concern was that when you suddenly get what you always wanted you might find that you didn't want it at all! But you've got it and now you have to do something meaningful with it.
I had the opportunity to test that thought process last Thursday when I bumped into Gordon Oliver on the stunningly beautiful main staircase at Oldway Mansion in Paignton. I reminded him of what I had written just after the mayoral election and asked whether he really had got what he wanted. His diplomatic wry smile will amuse me for years to come. As he said, these are early days.

Well, early days they might be, but we live in tumultuous times where, like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, some things are just so hard to believe. It may well be these are simply days rather than early days. The one thing that we cannot afford is confused thinking because people too quickly become disorientated and worse still disillusioned. There is, more than ever, a need for very clear strategic thinking and a sweeping aside of the curmudgeons.

My reason for being at Oldway was to attend, in the public gallery, a meeting of the full council. My specific interest was the draconian cost increase for families being bussed to school and college. An amendment had been tabled by a couple of councillors to soften the blow, which will financially damage so many struggling families, by spreading the increase over five years. Well, what happened was that a vote was not taken, to the disappointment of a large number of parents and children who had attended the meeting, and the matter was referred back to our mayor, Mr Oliver.

I found that hugely interesting because it made me realise the shocking power an elected mayor has. But an elected mayor is what we all voted for when we went down that dubious dusty road. It seems to me therefore whatever a council may decide is ultimately at the mercy of the mayor!
These are hard times, as we all know. But even now we have the obvious winners who have managed to reach the security of the financial high ground, and good luck to them. But they are few when compared to the increasing numbers beaten down by rising prices, high utility bills, redundancy, reduced services and a myriad of other hardships. As some bright spark noted, never in the history of man has so much been taken from so many by so few!

Where am I going with this? For more years than I really care to remember I have worked with the Duke of Edinburgh's Award as participant and then as a volunteer. I have always seen the DofE as an agent of social cohesion. The gap between those who have and those who have not is getting wider by the day, which will inevitably lead to a lack of social cohesion. We need to look out for each other, help neighbours and do our best to ensure our legacy is not one of selfish greed.

In a whimsical moment I had suggested to our new mayor that we might start perhaps with monthly public gatherings at the Riviera International Conference Centre where ordinary folk can air their views to the mayor in a pleasant and productive way. The questions could be written, for those who don't want to speak in public, but still allow for energetic rhetoric. This must not be a ranting session because I am sure we can find an upturned milk crate on Torre Abbey corner for that pent-up energy of those who simply want to unleash angry venomous rhetoric.

My other little tongue-in-check suggestion was that after the meeting we all pick up a paper bag to do a little litter collection on the way home as a gesture toward community cleanliness! That really is a serious suggestion since we shouldn't wait for others to make Torbay blossom.

How's that for a new vision?

Dreamscape..............

When I was a young man I had a very vivid dream; a dream that has haunted me for so many years and now latterly has an echo of reality. Perhaps that is the nature of dreams that in darkness of sleep we somehow connect with eternity where the past and the future become part of the one. I don’t know and therefore the search for truth continues!

Anyway let me get back to the dream. I knew then as I know now that it was a time in the future. It was a warm day with a stunning clear blue sky and I was travelling on a sort of flatbed vehicle on a road that I knew well with people that I didn’t because I had obviously found myself, somehow, in the future. As we travelled it occurred to me that there were no churches which I questioned a companion about. He smiled at me and said that they had all been demolished a while ago. Where the churches once stood, for I remember them being there, was grassland!

A few days ago I was leaving an increasingly traffic gridlocked Plymouth down one of my numerous rat runs and happened to be in Mutley. There was until recently a beautiful old church on a crossroads that had been the core of the local community. Now it’s rough ground with the occasional pile of bricks poking out over the numerous weeds.

That prompted a church search over the next few days. Some that I once knew have been flattened others have become snooker halls, antique shops, private clubs and designer homes. For me it prompted the thought of the generations who worshiped, were hatched, matched and despatched in these once spiritually vibrant buildings.

Sunday those years ago was a time for families to gather and often attend a church service together. There is still that gathering today but not in the churches. Now families gather in the supermarkets which have become the new cathedrals of consumerism where a false feeling of equality is established through the aisles of plenty and the advent of a credit card.

In this apparently Post-Christian era I make no call for a return to the churches but I do make a call for the spiritual energy that we all hold to be liberated in the hope of building more socially cohesive communities in these increasingly troubled times where the neighbourhood gap between those that have and those that have not widens by the day.

Feeling a little blue......

I’ve been messing around at Harbour Sports for over thirty years and yet things still creep up and bring tears to me eyes. Silly old thing really when I think about it and I guess that in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter. But it does, perhaps sadly, matter to me.

I little over a year ago we picked up a new brand which I thought quite special. Rather than simply stick it on the rails we made it a central feature on our large stand at the Riviera Conference Centre Great Outdoors Exhibition in Torquay last summer.

The brand sold because it is unusual, well priced and fun. The exhibition was hard work but it was exciting to do. The outcome was that we worked at building the brand and nice folk shared in that journey. After all is said and done our Harbour Sports strap line, for want of a better term, is that we don’t just walk the walk and talk the talk we also live the life. This new brand was part of that life force.

We live in curious times and things too often are not as they seem. It saddened me this year when the distributor suddenly started opening new accounts without bothering to consider the hard promotional work that we had put in. Sign of these times perhaps?

Anyway I happened to be walking past a shop not too far away today and found the window full of the clothing brand that we stupidly thought (well not that stupidly since we have a pointless email saying that we had territorial rights) was exclusive to us.

I seem to spend too much time these days placing plasters over metaphorical knife wounds between my shoulder blades. There was a time when a handshake meant something and it makes me sad when people act in the way that the brand supplier has.

But hey, we get up dust off and get on with life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep the Faith, or faith if you like...............